Firm News
The Intersection of Pop Culture and Legal Malpractice
By Will Jordan It isn’t often that pop culture and the world of legal malpractice intersect. Naturally, when they do, we can’t help but blog about it. “Real Housewife of New Jersey” Teresa Giudice, who is currently serving a fifteen-month prison sentence after pleading guilty to fraud charges relating to her bankruptcy filing, is suing […]
Accolades, Firm News
8 from Sowell Gray included in 2016 Best Lawyers in America, including 2 Lawyers of the Year
COLUMBIA, SC – Two members of Sowell Gray Stepp & Laffitte, LLC, Betsy Gray and Becky Laffitte have been honored as 2016 Lawyers of the Year while six of their colleagues at the firm were also recognized in the 2016 edition of The Best Lawyers in America. The national publication places the Sowell Gray members […]
ELECT Blog Election Law Essays on Current Topics
I Learned Something Today
Earlier this week, my “Word for the Day” was psephology. Dictionary.com frequently posts a word in its Word for the Day, and this is one that I am not familiar. However, psephology is a word that I figured I might have seen somewhere, but I cannot make such a statement with certainty. It is a […]
Accolades, Firm News
Cal Watson invited to join the Claims and Litigation Management Alliance
Sowell Gray Stepp & Laffitte, LLC is pleased to announce that Cal Watson has been invited to join the prestigious Claims and Litigation Management Alliance. The CLM is a nonpartisan alliance comprised of thousands of insurance companies, corporations, Corporate Counsel, Litigation and Risk Managers, claims professionals and attorneys. Through education and collaboration the organization’s goals […]
ELECT Blog Election Law Essays on Current Topics
The Meaning of “One Person, One Vote” to be Decided by the Supreme Court (Finally)
Attached is an interesting blog post by Lyle Denniston[1] about two redistricting cases the United States Supreme Court will hear in its Fall Term.[2] One case, arising out of Texas, will answer what population measure should be used—total population, total citizen voting age, total registered voters in a state—to ensure “one person, one vote” principle […]
ELECT Blog Election Law Essays on Current Topics
Where Did All the Voters Go?
Based on a recent report by the U.S. Elections Project,[1] Americans had the lowest voter turnout rate since 1942. Interestingly, the top two reasons given to the U.S. Census Bureau why people did not vote were: (1) too busy, and (2) not interested. Clearly, stopping this trend and engaging more persons to vote in future […]
Advocate's Journal
Legal Malpractice Claims Cannot Be Assigned Between Adversaries in Litigation
The South Carolina Supreme Court certified the following question from the United States District Court: “Can a legal malpractice claim be assigned between adversaries in litigation in which the alleged legal malpractice arose?” The Court answered the question in the negative, following the majority of other jurisdictions that have addressed the issue and finding that […]
ELECT Blog Election Law Essays on Current Topics, Firm News
Do We Live in a Healthy Democracy?
Recently, the Center for American Progress Action Fund (“Center”) issued a report entitled, The Health of State Democracies.[1] The Center essentially is a think tank that has policy teams in major issues areas and issues reports on these various topics to attempt to shape the debate.[2] The report “aims to take a broader approach to […]
ELECT Blog Election Law Essays on Current Topics
Florida Supreme Court: Redistricting Map Violates Florida Constitution
In League of Women Voters v. Detzner, No. SC14-1905, 2015 WL 4130852 (Fla. July 9, 2015), plaintiffs challenged the Florida legislature’s 2012 congressional redistricting plan, alleging that it violated the Florida Constitution. Specifically, in 2010, the Florida Constitution was amended by the Fair Districts Amendment (“FDA”), which prohibited the Florida legislature from drawing a redistricting […]
ELECT Blog Election Law Essays on Current Topics
Redistricting 101: Suing the Correct Parties – Eleventh Amendment
A key issue in a redistricting case is whether the plaintiff has sued the correct parties. This was an issue in a recent Fourth Circuit case, Wright v. North Carolina, 787 F.3d 256 (4th Cir. 2015). In Wright, plaintiffs, a group of thirteen North Carolina residents, brought a section 1983 action against the state and […]